Bendito Mantato

Adnan said:
I think Lacey should be developed in a central attacking role. The way the game is going now, a lot of coaches are looking for their wide attackers to exploit the space in transition and hence having the pace and explosiveness seems to be a key requirement for wide attackers to exploit space in wide areas. Lacey is technically a very good player who I feel could really develop well in a central attacking role going forward due to the craft and guile he has on the ball.
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Agreed. Lacey doesn’t look like he’s got the build or athleticism for an out and out winger, but his technical level is superb. I know it’s a long way away and a high bar but turning into a Foden style player would be very beneficial. He’s also got that agility to work his yard of space to exploit in tight areas. He’s also got a good final ball in him from when he has found himself central spaces too.

That being said he’s so young with the right training he’s absolutely got a bit more explosiveness in him so I wouldn’t rule it out just yet.
 
Lacey was making the u18s look too easy this season. Wasn't he only quiet in like 1-3 games, one of those being the Bayern u19 match?
 
In Rainbows said:
Lacey was making the u18s look too easy this season. Wasn't he only quiet in like 1-3 games, one of those being the Bayern u19 match?
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From what I remember he was only quiet when played on the left.
 
In Rainbows said:
Lacey was making the u18s look too easy this season. Wasn't he only quiet in like 1-3 games, one of those being the Bayern u19 match?
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Going off of transfermarkt hasnt he only played 5 games in the u18 league and then 3 in europe this season before injury? If we go with the 18s alone where he did better 2 goals and 3 assists in 5 is a good start. He had 3 goals and 2 assists in 12 games last season in the 18s so thats a big improvement as well.

However 5 goals and 2 assists in 5 games for Mantato is a great start. Its hard to get any better and he isnt in his 2nd season with the 18s... Again its such a great start that in another 5-10 games he might not be keeping it up. We'll have to wait and see with Mantato but very early days into his u18 career he looks a great talent.

With Lacey I think its more that he's very smooth running with the ball so when he sets up or scores a goal its instantly a great clip. But the output and regularity isn't amazing yet. He isnt that fast. He's pretty small and weak and he'll get better at those things but there are players who already have them and are setting up and scoring more goals at this level. And he will probably never be that speedy or resilliant to physical contact. He can still be a great player without them but he would have to match or better the end product of the players that are better at those things in the same position. Hopefully he can do that

As others have suggested maybe he could play in the middle but he'd need to take up a Bruno type role behind the striker else the size and strength part becomes an issue again. He might find himself frustrated like Angel Gomes was that he wasn't getting adult football. And again you'd need fantastic output in that role. It wouldnt be good enough to be a pleasing to watch dribbler that occasionally gets a goal or puts a teammate in
 
Demaw said:
As many have mentioned, Lacey goes easily out of games and can be physically knocked off so easily. I'm a huge fan of Amad and really sad he didn't get a run in the first team. That control he has is so impressive. Some club will benefit from him in the future, hopefully us.
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Definitely us :)
 
Ali Dia said:
Does he look more talented than Amad did in youth football? Amad looked unbelievable technically, a sure thing to make it big. Mantato looks like he could develop into a more physical player? Obviously this is years in the future if at all. It’s always nice to have England NT youth players developing here.
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Amad arrived after he turned 18 so he never played in our Academy system. Most people would have never seen him play any youth football, at least not live or regularly.

Comparing the two as 15-17 year-olds is therefore very difficult.
 
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Mr. MUJAC said:
Amad arrived after he turned 18 so he never played in our Academy system. Most people would have never seen him play any youth football, at least not live or regularly.

Comparing the two as 15-17 year-olds is there very difficult.
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I actually watched a number of games where Amad played for Atalanta in the Uefa youth league at 16/17 years old with those games being live on the Uefa website or on YouTube. Those full games are still available now and hence players like Amad or even Gvardiol who was playing for Dinamo Zagreb as a youth, played against eachother when Atalanta played Dinamo almost 5 years ago with the link to the full game below. There's numerous other games as well in full.

https://www.youtube.com/live/S24fxAUI_vU?si=Q23GZGc1wNsHK1hq
 
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Adnan said:
I actually watched a number of games where Amad played for Atalanta in the Uefa youth league at 16/17 years old with those games being live on the Uefa website or on YouTube. Those full games are still available now and hence players like Amad or even Gvardiol who was playing for Dinamo Zagreb as a youth, played against each when Atalanta played Dinamo almost 5 years ago with the link to the full game below. There's numerous other games as well in full.

https://www.youtube.com/live/S24fxAUI_vU?si=Q23GZGc1wNsHK1hq
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Great resource for those interested! :-)
 
His name reminds me of some villain from a spaghetti western comedy movie from Franco e Ciccio
 
andersj said:
Dont like the way this is dragging out.
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I hope I haven't jinxed it but if he were leaving I think we'd have heard by now. I genuinely can't remember the last time we lost a top U16, we're very good at retaining them. Obviously there was Parker last season but he was effectively part of a swap deal.

Mantato's also got a younger brother in the academy doing very well himself, so it makes sense for them to stay and progress together. Should be about a month or so until we announce our new intake so we'll know for sure then.
 
top1whoisman said:
Some rumours on twitter saying he’s signed the contract.
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That would be good news if true. He looks an exciting prospect.

It's one thing players like Forson and maybe Shoretire turning down new deals to opt for looking for first team opportunites at smaller clubs - but it's another losing a highly rated talent of Mantato's young age, and probably to a rival.
 
Bertie Wooster said:
That would be good news if true. He looks an exciting prospect.

It's one thing players like Forson and maybe Shoretire turning down new deals to opt for looking for first team opportunites at smaller clubs - but it's another losing a highly rated talent of Mantato's young age, and probably to a rival.
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Just seen the Tweet you’re on about, it’s from Academy Scoop and they’re usually bang on.
 
Scholars are having their signing event this evening, so he should be there.
 
Looks like he’s grown and bulked up a bit. And no I’m not comparing him to Nkoto.





 
The lad looks a threat every time he gets the ball..very direct!

I love the shouts on the sidelines too…”Bendy, Bendy…”
 
#7.. plays on the right wing.
Is Bendy like Beckham?

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Red71 said:
The lad looks a threat every time he gets the ball..very direct!

I love the shouts on the sidelines too…”Bendy, Bendy…”
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He usually looks a threat, but today he was rather poor. He combined well with Kamason but his endproduct was lacking today. But he is a huge talent!
 
lysglimt said:
He usually looks a threat, but today he was rather poor. He combined well with Kamason but his endproduct was lacking today. But he is a huge talent!
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I'd say only his end product was poor. He was aggressive, beat his fullback countless of times and found himself in some very good positions to score.
 
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